That's what former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko's been up to since 2008's Quantum of Solace, which put her on the international map. Now she's in two distinctly different films: Oblivion, a big-budget sci-fi movie with Tom Cruise (in theaters Friday) and Terrence Malick's dreamy, almost wordless art-house film To the Wonder with Ben Affleck (now in select cities).

"I woke up at 4 a.m. today," says Kurylenko, taking in a few minutes of sun by the London Hotel's rooftop pool. "I came from Taipei but my jet lag is European." She's been touring the world on Cruise control, premiering Oblivion in Hollywood, Dublin, Vienna, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.

Born in Ukraine, 33-year-old Kurylenko, who speaks fluent Russian, French and English, gained financial independence first as a model, and then began work as an actress, ultimately scoring the Bond role. Now based in London, she's worked to avoid being pigeonholed as a sex symbol. "If I went on what people were offering me based on Bond I wouldn't be here today," she notes, lighting up at mention of last year's critical art-house hit, Seven Psychopaths.

There's one distinct similarity between Daniel Craig and Cruise. "Daniel and Tom, they really kind of pushed me indirectly," she says. "They made me want to be more physical and work harder so I can do what these guys do. Ben (Affleck) is a completely different world. I admire Ben as a director … what struck me about Ben is how extremely smart that man is."

Contrast that with Malick's set, where Kurylenko played Marina, a heartsick French single mother pining for an emotionally unavailable American (Affleck). "(Instead of a script) as they did my hair I would just read the thought of the day. It would be thoughts of my character. What internal struggles she's going through today. But he wouldn't tell you what to say."

Next, Kurylenko reprises her role on Season 2 of Starz's 1950s-set series Magic City (which returns June 14) as a strong-willed dancer who reinvents herself as the wife of the owner (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) of a Fountainebleu-like hotel. "In the second season I get to dance!" she says. "We prepared a show for a month with ballet dancers."